Considering all of the horrid, embarrassing, and watered down kiddie-horror movies they release these days, a good ol’ gory, R-rated horror — even if it’s completely awful — is a comforting sight. Midnight Meat Train was one of those offerings; with the always-horrifying Vinnie Jones (Snatch, Gone in 60 Seconds) walking around butchering people on a subway, how could it be bad? Slated for a May release date, it was close enough where buzz was growing.

Apparently, not enough buzz grew. Horror-Movies.ca has been told by LionsGate that they will pass on a theatrical release and that they will send the film directly to DVD.

It’s rare to see a movie that looked like a decent theatrical offering just pass that by and go right to the disc, but not a bad idea either. Maybe most people — like myself — were planning to just wait to check it out and the studio realized this. I’m happy, because now I can see it sooner (I think?) and I hope that it’s a good move and they do well… if the movie actually ends up being good, of course. If it sucks, then all of this is pointless and people will remain scared of the direct-to-DVD option.

What does everyone think, should more movies with tiny theatrical hopes just do the DVD thing and hope to find success in the more accessible market? I do believe a lot of movies would be better off and should seriously consider this as an acceptable form of film distribution — not as a declaration of failure.

Midnight Meat Train also stars Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers), Leslie Bibb (Talladega Nights, Iron Man), and Brooke Shields (The Blue Lagoon, Suddenly Susan… wow, I never noticed how little known stuff she’s done!). It’s directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Sky High) and written by Jeff Buhler; based on the short story by Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Candyman).

Problem with movies going directly to DVD is that the consumer world has already gotten used to the idea that “Direct to DVD = Crap”. And… it’s kinda true. With the exception of mostly animated movies (anime, DC animated universe), I can’t call to mind a single straight-to-DVD release that had any sort of theater-worthy quality.

So, for the big wigs to suddenly shift gears and start putting actually *decent* movies direct to DVD, it could backfire, in that people will see that, feel disappointed, and just not bother with the DVD. I have the feeling that would be the reaction in all but the staunchest fans (for instance… if Meat Train were only available on video cassette, and it was a shitty copy filmed during a focus group screening, with the edges cut off and crappy audio… I know Dave3 would STILL pay large sums of money to see it… some things are just a given).

As for Meat Train itself… Damn.

In this case, I REALLY hope that it’s a financial decision, and not a quality decision… because I was really looking forward to Kitamura’s first english language flick being a hit. I’m hoping it’s more “Alive” than “Versus.”